Lacanja and the Lacandon Jungle

The Selva Lacandona is Mexico's Amazon - the country's largest tropical rainforest, holding a spectacular share of its biodiversity - and Lacanja Chansayab is its human doorway. The village belongs to the Lacandon Maya, the small forest people who escaped colonial conquest in these lowlands and still wear the white tunic and long hair of their tradition; families here run the rustic riverside lodges, and their guides hold the keys to the forest. The offerings are the jungle itself: treks along the Lacanja river to waterfall stairways like the Cascadas de Lacanja and the falls at Las Golondrinas, swimming holes of jade water under strangler figs, rafting runs on gentle rapids, and walks to Lacanjá's own unexcavated ruins - moss-bound temples the guides' grandfathers used as shrines, roots gripping carved stones no crowd has ever seen. Nights bring cicada roar, howler dawn choruses and, with luck, tapir tracks by the river. Nearby Bonampak, whose access the community manages, makes the natural companion. Money spent here conserves the forest by employing its owners.

What you actually see

• The river treks - waterfalls and jade pools under canopy.
• The hidden ruins - unexcavated temples in the roots.
• The Lacandon hosts - white-tunic guides on home ground.
• The living forest - macaws, monkeys and the chance of cats' tracks.

When to go

November to April for walkable trails and manageable rivers; the wet months turn treks to expeditions. Two nights beat the day-trip version comprehensively.

Honest expectations

Lodging is rustic - screens, candles or limited solar, river bathing; comfort seekers should day-trip. Trails are muddy, rooty and humid at all times. Guides' Spanish varies and their forest knowledge does not - listen more than you ask.

Nearby

Bonampak's murals are minutes away; Yaxchilan's river city and the Frontera Corozal boats extend the deep-jungle circuit.